GARY HOOPER insists the strikers already at Celtic Park will be fired up by the arrival of Polish hitman Pawel Brozek.

And the Englishman has warned the Pole he has a fight on his hands to earn himself a starting a place in Neil Lennon’s treble-chasing side.

The Hoops have strengthened in their bid to complete a first domestic clean sweep in 11 years with the loan signing of Brozek from Trabzonspor – and the Parkhead club are still looking to bring in more firepower before the transfer window shuts tonight.

But after seeing Anthony Stokes move one ahead of him in the scoring charts as he took his tally to 17 for the season with a double against Falkirk on Sunday, Hooper says it’s up to the new recruits to prove they’re better than the current strikers.

Record Sport revealed yesterday that Celtic want Austrian giant Marc Janko while Dundee United’s Johnny Russell has also been linked with a move and Hooper believes the new arrivals can see Lennon’s men scoop up all the trophies in Scotland this season.

But the former Scunthorpe hitman was quick to praise the efforts of those already at the club.

Hooper was speaking after Sunday’s 3-1 Hampden win over the Bairns which booked Celtic’s place in the League Cup Final against Kilmarnock.

He said: “I think a new guy coming in can spur myself and Anthony Stokes on – and Georgios and Kris behind us – because it’s more competition for places.

“But if we are doing our jobs and the team is winning games then hopefully we will stay in the team.

“I welcome the competition because it’s extending the choice for the gaffer. It will be hard for him but if you are doing it on the pitch that makes his job easier because he can pick the two strikers on form.

“It’s up to any new guys to step it up when they come in because me, Stokesy and Samaras have been playing really well.

“All three of us have been on the pitch together sometimes and we just need to keep doing what we are doing and then when Brozek gets his chance he can show us what he’s got.

“I don’t know a lot about him but we will know more once he comes in and joins us in training.

“Will it give us enough to see out the rest of the season and win the trophies available? Yes, we have a really strong squad anyway and it can only get even stronger with a new striker coming in.

“I think we have to just do what we have been doing and we will be all right. That’s 14 wins in a row now in domestic competitions and we know we need to keep winning game by game.

“It doesn’t really matter about Rangers. It’s up to us what we do. We can’t slip up. We need to win every game and try to take our run up to as many as we can.

“Next week we’ve got a tough game at Inverness but it’s another one we must win. So we need to rest up then go up there and get another win.”

Hooper was cruelly denied a goal at Hampden on Sunday when the linesman wrongly flagged him offside and after watching Stokes draw level with him on goals for the season with a brilliant free-kick he then set up the Irishman for his second.

That sealed the victory for Celtic and saw Stokes edge ahead in their personal scoring duel.

Hooper added: “It was a great free-kick by Stokesy for our second. He does that kind of thing in training every day so I wasn’t surprised when he scored.

“For his second goal, I just put the ball in that area because I knew he would be there. Sure enough, he was and that’s him one ahead of me now in the scoring stakes!

“I should have had one myself. I’ve been told I was onside when I scored in the first half. I finished it anyway but you get those decisions and the most important thing was that we got through to the Final.”

Steven Pressley’s Falkirk side earned plenty of plaudits, even in defeat, and Hooper was quick to praise the First Division side for having a real go at Hampden. He said: “They played some nice football and caused us problems throughout the game.

“But I felt we dealt with it very professionally and deserved the result in the end. I must say Falkirk surprised me a bit. They passed the ball out from the back – and they did it well.

“With them doing that it meant we had to try and press them high and when we did that we got the goals.

“In the end we are just very pleased to get through to the Final. But as I said it’s credit to them as they did come to Hampden to have a go although they still got plenty of men behind the ball.

“After they scored the equaliser they gave us some problems but we came out in the second half got the goals. It’s job done but it was tough because of the commitment of Falkirk.”